AS

Ashley Sylvester

available

Last update: 06.05.2024

Infrastructure Engineer, Microsoft Infrastructure Developer, Consultant

Company: ITISEE
Graduation: Professional Certs
Hourly-/Daily rates: show
Languages: English (Full Professional)

Attachments

Ashley Sylvester - CV.doc

Skills

Active Directory, SCCM, Azure, Windows Server 2019, PCI, Windows 2019, Exchange 2010, Exchange online Directory and Office 365, ITIL, Windows 2016 & 2019, Office 365, DKIM, DMARC, SPF, PowerShell, VMware, vCenter, vCenter Operations Manager, ESXi, Citrix Netscalers 12, Citrix, Citrix Appsene, Citrix Virtual Apps, Desktop7, Citrix PVS, Azure AD, ADFS, SAML, Azure Cloud Network Infrastructure, VNET, Azure Site Recovery, Traffic Manager, Azure Load Balancer, API, Firewalls, Microsoft Exchange, Office365, Xenapp, Red Hat Linux, centos, 3par, SQL, Windows Server 2016 servers, SharePoint, IIS, SQL Server 2016, UIPath, Application, SSL, SQL Server 2016/2017, SharePoint Server 2016, Kerberos, cloud, SaaS, IaaS cloud platform, SQL 2016 clusters, SQL 2012, SQL 2014 Enterprise servers, Windows 2008 R2 file server, Windows 2012 R2 server, Citrix 6.5 farm, Anti-virus, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server, ADMS

Project history

01/2021 - Present
SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT & PROJECT LEAD
Siemens (Architecture and civil engineering, >10.000 employees)

Engaged on a contract basis by major cross-sector organisations requiring expertise in the areas of solutions architecture, project delivery and infrastructure engineering. Called upon to co-ordinate geographically dispersed teams of up to 25, while collaborating closely with executive stakeholders and global cross-functional teams within complex matrix structures. With a focus on early and ongoing value for client organisations, I focus on providing business acumen, regulatory knowledge and advanced expertise of technologies, such as Azure, O365, Citrix and AD. Remit includes requirements analysis, architecture design, solution development, process optimisation, testing support and third-party co-ordination.

At the forefront of a team of 15 engineers and architects migrating 140k users and computers globally to Azure as part of Siemens’ complex carve out project, notably deploying Microsoft ADMS tool to automate migration.

Key impetus behind Siemens’ technology transformation agenda in the capacity of Solutions Architect, incorporating support for a major cyber security programme and brand-new digital roadmap.
 


08/2019 - 06/2020
Project Lead
Worldline

Key Achievements:
* Leading delivery of a project to increase security across a global IT estate for Europe's leading
card payment company.
* Managing a team of 25 Engineers and Architects across France, Germany, Belgium and the
Netherlands.
* Focusing on re-designing Active Directory, building and connecting all servers to a Global SCCM
platform, setting up an Azure platform and creating a golden image for Windows Server 2019 to
ensure all new servers meet PCI standards.
* Developing the overall project plan including tools, templates, PM processes, logs / directories
and QA procedures.
* Deploying Windows 2019 Domain Controllers physical and virtual across multiple countries
* Managing and administrating Exchange 2010, Exchange online Directory and Office 365
* Tracking progress against plans and leading risk / change assessment as well as assurance
activities.
* Ensuring adherence to best practices for project delivery, change control and risk containment.
* Chairing regular project meetings to prioritise all workloads, resolve any issues / bottlenecks
and ensure management in line with project management frameworks and best practices.
* Delivering regular updates to senior management stakeholders on project statuses and the
achievement of milestones.
* Knowledge and expertise in implementing service management frameworks such as ITIL, and a good
understanding of where and how to apply these.
* Document the design, maintenance, hardening and support procedures for Windows 2016 & 2019
* Coordinate ongoing security updates, patches, maintenance routines, and upgrades for the
Microsoft Enterprise
Selected Project / Technical Achievements:
* Completed a global technical rescue project for a complex and demanding client. The project
required me to focus on leading technologies / infrastructure change for Worldline. Established
governance frameworks, undertook change control management, managed risk, held financial
documents and reported to a senior level.
* Ran multiple large-scale technical IT projects and delivered within time and budgetary
constraints across a breadth of sectors.
* Provide analysis of root cause issues and re-engineer resources, processes and systems to improve
efficiency levels.
* Skilled in the development of sourcing strategies, undertaking vendor selection, leading on
contract negotiations and managing service delivery / transition as well as end-to-end vendor
lifecycle management.
* Ability to attract, select, motivate and empower high calibre people (including across matrix
structures), set challenging KPIs and support team members to drive projects successfully and
deliver appropriate solutions.
* Engaged effectively with stakeholders up to Executive level, won trust on transparency, fostered
confidence at all levels to enhance mutual business focus and achieve shared goals.
* Provided client side O365 support for external clients onboarding the O365 service
* Provided user training for new Office 365 users
* Deployed and configured/administered Office 365
* Lead the migration of mailboxes and provided documentation of the migration based on the Standard
Operation Procedures (SOP)
* Configured Email authentication, policy, and reporting protocols (DKIM/DMARC/SPF)
* Performed bulk user/mailbox object modifications using PowerShell.
* Troubleshoot mail flow and mail delivery issues.
* Responsible for troubleshooting migration issues to determine root cause and improving the
migration process
* Carried out remote migrations on a global scale (will involve Out of Hours work to suit the
global locations time zone including some weekends)
* Installed, configured, hardened, troubleshoot and administrated components in a large VMware 6.7
environment centered around best practices, to including vCenter, vCenter Operations Manager,
VMware Update Manager and Virtual Distributed Switch
* Upgraded ESXi hosts and VM guests using VMware Update Manager
* Virtualised physical servers to reduce HW and eventually migrate to new Datacentre
* Experience/knowledge in running scripts (PowerShell) and managing the outputs and any resultant
errors.
* Deployed, configured troubleshoot Citrix Netscalers 12, Citrix Storefront 3, Citrix Appsene,
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop7, Citrix PVS available for 4000 users globally.
* Configured and deployed Azure AD, ADFS, Azure AD Connect, Conditional Access, Azure AD Proxy,
SAML and Active Directory Domain Services
* Configuration and deployment experience with Azure Cloud Network Infrastructure: VNET, Azure Site
Recovery, Traffic Manager, Azure Load Balancer, API Gateways, Application Gateways, Azure AD,
Firewalls, Azure Security Centre

08/2018 - 06/2019
Infrastructure Engineer
Gain Capital

Key Achievements:
* Contributing technical expertise in strategic planning and providing multiple related services;
analysing requirements, making recommendations, identifying potential risks, helping in
developing roadmaps and providing the solution(s).
* Functioning as an experts Infrastructure Engineer, responding to incidents about a range of
hardware and software (infrastructure) issues raised; managing and resolving these incidents in a
timely, professional manner.
* Remaining calm and focussed at all times, within a fast-paced environment.
* Working effectively within team and ensuring end goals are understood at all levels.
Selected Project / Technical Achievements:
* Led the Microsoft Exchange and Office365 migration and troubleshooting hybrid mailflow
* Root cause analysis for Xenapp 7.15 performance issues and building new golden image for a Citrix
farm over 300 servers.
* Comprehensive knowledge of Red Hat Linux and centos deployments
* Oversaw 3par Storage recovery and upgrades as well as SQL cluster upgrades
* Daily managing Proofpoint and troubleshooting Mimecast Enterprise Proofpoint
* Successfully managing Server 2012 R2 upgrades to 2016
* Developing scripting to automate deployment of 300 Windows Server 2016 servers
* Creation of VMware 6 cluster migrated over 2000 vm's to the new cluster
* Troubleshooting of HP Enterprise enclosures

06/2018 - 08/2018
Microsoft Infrastructure Developer
TCC Group

Key Achievements:
* Contributed technical expertise in strategic planning and providing lifecycle management within
multiple, projects; making recommendations, identifying potential risks, developing roadmaps,
setting realistic timelines and providing the solution.
* Worked closely with all key stakeholders, including users and senior management, to ascertain
business requirements and ensure each party was effectively informed of technical aspects
involved for each solutiontailoring language etc. to avoid jargon.
Selected Project / Technical Achievements:
* Successfully designed and implemented ADFS solutions for Three tier SharePoint installation
* Responsible for IIS reverse lookup design and implementation
* Oversaw SQL Server 2016 design and installation
* Managed the stack installation and support of UIPath, Bizagi, Evidox, Prizm application
* Enterprise Certificate Authorities & certificate management installation
* Effectively performed IIS, Application Pools & SSL configurations
* Responsible for SQL Server 2016/2017 including user role management
* Demonstrated extensive knowledge and skills within SharePoint Server 2016 including Kerberos and
ADFS auth

02/2018 - 05/2018
Consultant
Holland Mountain

Key Achievements:
* Successfully led and advised on key Projects for multiple clients, providing expertise into
strategic decision making and assisting in setting the goals; making recommendations, identifying
potential risks and delivering `cradle to grave` management within time and budget limits -
working with all parties including 3rd Party Vendors, and Senior Stakeholders to bring optimised
solutions.
* Engaged with all key stakeholders, business and technical; collaborating with all parties to
ascertain requirements & ensure effective communication regarding technical aspects involved;
tailoring language to avoid jargon.
* Acted as a key liaison figure between the client's own technology groups and the business groups;
assuring that all aspects of each Project are developed and implemented according to set
standards.
* Defined Critical Success Factors and scope for works (PIDS); tracking progress against baselines
and managing change through an agreed change control process - mitigating any risks & issues that
arise and briefing senior leaders on progress & concerns.
* Worked in a `hands-on` delivery driven manner; providing all areas documentation and instilling a
`lessons learnt` final closure to each of the completed project deliverables -
ensuring/developing compliant reporting systems as required.
Specific Achievements:
* Oversaw the creation of a target operating model diagrams created by consultants.
* Created detailed Operational Reviews for multiple Private Equity firms; recommending strategic
changes.
* Designed strategic roadmap/programme timelines and summarised `next steps` advice.

04/2016 - 02/2018
Senior Systems Engineer
Ezecastle Integration

Key Achievements:
* Working closely with key stakeholders to understand their needs and ensure all parties are
effectively informed of related infrastructure issues, project details/technical aspects of work
delivered; developing agreed plans, whilst customizing approach to organisational needs &
translating solutions to be understood by a wider audience.
* Leading specialist Engineering team(s) of 20+ to provide management and co-ordination of the work
delivered; consistently having a `hands on` approach, grounded in clear communication at all
levels - motivating, training, and explicitly recognising individuals' strengths.
* Undertaking a range of related tasks including; validating and recommending third party solutions
etc.; identifying, building and maintaining relationships with vendors, and managing outsourced
teams.
Selected Project / Technical Achievements:
* Migrated Office 365, Exchange 2010 to a private cloud SaaS messaging system, ensuring message
hygiene is in place by implementing Messagelabs
* Migrated clients from Azure tenant to an IaaS cloud platform successfully within scoped out
project timeframe
* Heavily using PowerShell to automate the build of window servers and audit the windows
infrastructure
* Built SQL Always-on SQL 2016 clusters, migrated SQL 2012 to SQL 2014 Enterprise servers
* Migrated Windows 2008 R2 file server with 4TB DFSR to a Windows 2012 R2 server
* Cloud Architect - Upgraded an Enterprise Citrix 6.5 farm to 7.15 accessible for 2000 users,
adding additional high availability features to ensure that there is no single point of failure
* Deployed Citrix profile management and 80 Citrix 7.15 VDI servers for private equity firms
* Anti-virus upgrades for large enterprise environments

04/2014 - 04/2016
System Engineer
Ezecastle Integration


06/2011 - 04/2014
Escalations Team 2nd/3rd Line Engineer


01/2011 - 06/2011
System Administrator
ActivTrades


01/2009 - 01/2011
IT Analyst
ActivTrades


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